For 163 years the telegram remained a source of tremendous joy as well as a fore bearer of deep despair. Promotions, birth of a baby, death of a relative and forceful self invitations were communicated through telegrams. It was also the only medium of communication that could be admitted in court as evidence.
Although the BSNL claimed that this service was a loss making entity as digital channels of communications have become popular, the critics of this decision point out to numbers.Almost 300 million Indians still lack cell phones as per government data. Compare this number to the entire population of the US which is 313 million! In non urban areas, telegrams also work as an effective payment recovery mechanism.
I decided to send a couple of telegrams on 14th July 2013 as the government had decided to discontinue sending telegrams from the next day onwards. Here are some images:
Sources:
The Internet didn’t get the message, the telegram is not dead: http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-internet-didnt-get-the-message-the-telegrams-not-dead
Telegram flies to sunset: Taar brings bad news as usual http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/1847743/report-telegram-flies-into-sunset-taar-brings-bad-news-as-usual
Hunted lovers mourn end of telegraph http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/07/15/lovers-mourn-end-of-the-telegraph/
Forget Dodo, its dead as a telegram http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/1861187/report-forget-dodo-it-s-dead-as-a-telegram
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